Hind Ismail

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Ismail, a 28-year-old reporter for the daily As-Saffir, was kidnapped in the northern city of Mosul, local journalists told CPJ. Police in the southern suburb of al-Muthana found her body the next morning with a single bullet wound to the head.

"Hind was a very active reporter in Mosul," As-Saffir Deputy Editor Slayhe al-Jowiree said. "We respected her very much in her pursuit to uncover the truth."

The Baghdad-based As-Saffir took a strong pro-democracy editorial position and ran a campaign to educate Iraqis on the importance of the new constitution, local journalists said. It criticized insurgent attacks against Iraqi civilians, calling them terrorist operations.

Staff members believe insurgents targeted the newspaper because it supported the new Iraqi constitution, urged citizens to vote, and frequently covered press conferences held by the Iraqi police. The day before her abduction, Hind had covered a police press conference.

A close colleague told CPJ that Ismail was tortured by her captors and forced to reveal the names of other staffers at the newspaper. The torture session was filmed and later viewed by a staff member of the newspaper, the colleague said. The day after Ismail's death, insurgents circulated a list of newspaper staff and posted it on the walls of mosques in Mosul, according to the colleague. On September 20, As-Saffir journalist Firas Maadidi was also killed.